Rwanda National Police (RNP) and Tanzania Police Force (TPF) held a bilateral meeting in Kigali, on Tuesday, September 7, which mainly focused on strengthening cooperation against cross-border crimes especially terrorism.
The bilateral meeting held at the RNP General Headquarters in Kacyiru was co-chaired by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dan Munyuza and his counterpart of Tanzania, Gen. Simon Nyakoro Sirro.
Sirro and his delegation are in Rwanda since Monday for a four-day visit aimed at further strengthening ties between the two friendly Police institutions.
The meeting followed another one held in Tanzania in May.
While speaking during the bilateral meeting, Munyuza thanked his counterpart for honouring the invitation, which he described as a "sign of mutual trust and existing friendship between our two countries.”
He commended the existing cooperation framework especially in information flow on terror activities in the region and particularly in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, which lies on the border with Tanzania in the south.
"During the course of the operations against terrorists in Cabo Delgado, in which forces of our two countries are involved, we have collected information on ground, either from captured terrorists or those killed in action, which we have been sharing with you as we endeavour to devise strategies to secure our region against violent terrorists that continue to kill innocent people in our region and make thousands homeless and refugees in their own countries,” Munyuza said.
As the terrorists continue to lose ground in Mozambique, Munyuza said, there is need to carefully establish networks in the region and share timely information on their next course of action.
"More than ever before, we need to work together to update our approaches, especially in controlling our borders against movement of radical Muslims and be able to detect movement of likely terror materials in our region. Terrorists fleeing from their hideouts in Mozambique may infiltrate our borders and establish cells in our countries or in neighbouring countries” Munyuza said.
This struggle against terrorism, he said, should be at the top of the agenda for the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization (EAPCCO) to simplify operational information exchange and conduct joint operations against terrorists to address and avoid the gap between terrorist threat and the collective response to defeat terrorists.
Tanzania is the current chair of the 14-member regional bloc.
Munyuza reiterated Rwanda National Police commitment and closer cooperation with Tanzania Police Force and the region in combatting other cross-border and transnational crimes.
On his part, IGP Sirro said: "We have a challenge of terrorism; it is high time we deal with it. We must always be alert. Whenever we get information from Rwanda, we immediately act on it. I can assure you that through the information from Rwanda, we have managed to arrest many suspects.”
The bilateral meeting is in line with the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Rwanda National Police (RNP) and Tanzania Police Force (TPF) in 2012 to cooperate and collaborate in security related matters, including joint exercises, operations, training and timely exchange of security information.